


I Believe in You

by MiraculousTalenny



Category: Gorillaz
Genre: #freemurdoc, 2D misses Murdoc, 2doc - Freeform, Angst, El Mierda, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, FreeMurdoc, M/M, Murdoc has changed, Murdoc misses 2D, Murdoc needs a hug, Next chapter sometime in July when we hear from Murdoc again, No Smut, POV Second Person, Phase 5, Romance, Sad Murdoc Niccals, Sad Stuart "2D" Pot, i miss him, kind of a vent
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-06-11
Updated: 2018-06-27
Packaged: 2019-05-21 03:27:31
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,906
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14907429
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MiraculousTalenny/pseuds/MiraculousTalenny
Summary: He says he misses you, that he was framed, that he's innocent and that El Mierda is responsible for his incarceration.What were you supposed to believe? He's lied to you countless times before, about numerous things. So why wouldn't he lie again, right now?But the broken tears in his mismatched, bloodshot eyes told you that he was genuinely telling you the truth for once.Short 2Doc FanFic based off the current events of Phase 5.





	1. I Miss You, I Believe in You

**Author's Note:**

> This is sort of a vent because I miss Murdoc so much it's as if he is the oxygen I breathe and I'm being deprived of it. 
> 
> Probably going to be about three chapters long. Practically 2D's thoughts and why he's doing The Now Now without Murdoc, maybe a bit of song-writing process, and interactions between Ace, Noodle and Russel. I don't like Ace that much but I won't hate on him as long as he leaves when Murdoc gets out.  
> Next chapter I'll probably have 2D writing Souk Eye since it seems to be about him missing Murdoc due to the lyrics and visual. Though that chapter won't come until mid-July, or whenever we hear from Murdoc again, like he said in the Free Murdoc online chat. All depends. 
> 
> Fluff and angst, because why not? I hate it but I love it at the same time.
> 
> Also, it's my first time writing a story from second-person perspective. When I started this, I automatically just typed in this perspective without thinking or realizing it until halfway through. I apologize if there are any errors regarding this.
> 
> MURDOCx2D: don't like then don't read or give me hate. I gave you a warning and it's even in the tags and summary.
> 
> Enjoy!

Living without Murdoc was something to get used to. 

You learnt that during the first week after he’d been detained. There was no stomping down the hall, animalistic growling in the kitchen, or smoke from burning toast. And there were no deep strums of his prized bass guitar echoing throughout the Spirit House. It was almost entirely silent, apart for Noodle’s Japanese rambles to Russel, who’d nod solemnly or laugh quietly in his humble manner. 

It was almost depressing, no fuck that, it is depressing, especially when you went and visited him the day after being detained for answers. You were hungover from celebrating Gorillaz’s Brit award, but you still went to visit him because Noodle was sick in the bathroom with a hangover from lack of alcohol experience and Russel simply did not want to put up with the incarcerated bassist.

You’d sat anxiously that day in the chair opposite the glass-screen protecting you from him. His straight posture was gone, his hair was messier than usual, and his facial expression was damply contorted into something rarely ever seen on the Murdoc Niccals. 

The desperation in his bloodshot, tear-stained eyes told you he was stressed and devastated beyond Hell, and he had a good reason to if he was telling you the truth.

But what were you supposed to believe? 

Murdoc had lied countless times before, about countless things, and your brain-trauma made it hard to reflect on those lies in the past. But in saying that, since reuniting for the new album, he’d changed a lot. Still the bird-fucking, alcoholic bassist that he made himself known for, but with a better temper and respect for you and your bandmates.

Murdoc was near tears when he begged you to believe him; he could see your underlying hesitation before he even finished explaining his story, sobbing emotionally that he was chuffing innocent. As much as you did believe that a man named El Mierda or something like that, had framed him for something he had absolutely nothing to do with, it was enough heart-wrenching information that you stood up and left, biting your lip as you struggled to hold it together. Apparently, he was the bloke in the Strobelite video; you’d have to check it out when you got back home.

You haven’t seen Murdoc cry since Plastic Beach, and that was over Noodle. 

You cried too, though, back then. And now you were crying with Murdoc, in the prison’s visiting room, and when you looked back to see that his usually stern expression had disappeared and become something so crestfallen, it almost seemed as if Murdoc…

...disappeared.

The next few weeks was agony without him as you realized how much you depended on Murdoc. That blasted bassist. He was always helping you through your migraines ever since reuniting for Humanz, eating breakfast at 3:00pm with you in the living room, and he’d even play the bass as you’d be practicing the guitar tabs Noodle had shown you recently.

Now you lost your pills on a daily basis, or took too many, or too little. Murdoc knew how many to give you that would take away the pain and also give you a decent high. You hardly ever ate nowadays unless Russel ordered in take-out. You hardly left your room because Murdoc wasn’t lounging on the couch, arm stretched out along the back of it, which you always took as an invitation.

He never refuted you when you did. 

It seemed like sitting on your bed, strumming aimlessly on that acoustic guitar was all you were good at now that he wasn’t here. Fuck El Mierda, whoever he was. 

Weeks of dying frustration and loneliness passed before you got the idea to make another album, and when you visited Murdoc a few days later, you mentioned the idea to him.

Surprisingly, he was alright with it, and even volunteered an old acquaintance for your temporary bassist. Ace from some gang Murdoc was involved with or either knew well.

You weren’t exactly onboard with the idea, but you would take what you could get. Even if Ace was strikingly similar to Murdoc, as if they were different species of men, classified by their skin and habits.

Ace’s ruthless stunts and green skin reminded you of Murdoc on a daily basis. Ace was...not exactly polite, but he was not mean. Maybe it’s his crude humour? Whatever it was, it pushed you to visit Murdoc again. Even more so when he took Murdoc’s usual seat on the lounge couch, forcing tearful memories to your lost mind.

Your next visit was rough as Murdoc sat across from you with a black eye, bruised right-arm and a deep, split-open cut on his bottom lip. Turns out his cell-mates were intent on using Murdoc as a punching bag to “toughen him up”. 

He told you the same story when you asked again. Noodle said liers change their stories because they don’t remember what they said or just want pity. You were relieved to hear that nothing had been changed or altered in anyway, and now you felt horrible for doubting Murdoc in the first place.

You believed him, and Murdoc blamed his swollen eye for the tear that leaked through it, though you knew better. 

He’d be out soon, he kept assuring you. You smiled and nodded, not at all believing that he would be. His sentence was lengthy. But he’s a genius, and you always forgot that.


	2. While You're Gone

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> 2D's life continues on as he tries to write the next album without Murdoc.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So this morning @freemurdoc posted a letter from Wormwood Scrubs stating that because of delusional behaviour due to obsessing over 2D, Murdoc will be allowed a supervised phone call, which is why I wrote this chapter to post today. Maybe I should have waited until Friday when the album comes out and for Murdoc's phone call, but if the upcoming lore is big enough, I'll write another chapter quickly or combine it with whatever comes up next. 
> 
> Some background notes for this chapter: 
> 
> Noodle plays it cool around Ace to prevent him from seeing any weak spots because she does not fully trust him in the band just yet.
> 
> Murdoc was in the Gangreen Gang but left because of his dreams to be in a world-famous band before the feuds with the Powerpuff Girls, hence why they never met.
> 
> I’m not sure where Wormwood Scrubs actually is, but I’m putting it in another place for this story. It’s not close enough to the Spirit House for 2D to visit Murdoc though.
> 
> I made a mistake last chapter about how many times 2D has visited Murdoc which sort of messed with the timeline. I’m going to fix that now after I post this. 
> 
> I’m pretty sure 2D can phone Murdoc but with the note posted on @freemurdoc, I’m guessing Murdoc isn’t allowed contact with the outside world even though we can contact him with the Free Murdoc chat and he was interviewed in the prison after Humility.

You were always thinking of Murdoc. Undoubtedly always worried so much that you’d catch yourself dwelling on him when you should be trying to give Ace a warm welcoming and focusing on the album one too many times. You thought that writing out everything you felt or thought of about Murdoc into what became Soukeye was going to help you.

It did and it didn’t. 

It felt great to vent it all out, especially to Noodle. You manned up just a little bit and sung it Ace, Noodle and Russel. You unfortunately didn’t see how watery her eyes were because when you finished the last verse, you unintentionally dropped the microphone; suddenly overwhelmed with a constricting sadness. Ace and Russel were kind enough not to interject, leaving the room and you to mourn in the form of sobs. Noodle held you close that evening and ordered KFC for your sorrows. 

Your sobs were so violent though that you didn’t even notice hers. 

As much as Noodle tried to play it cool around Ace that she didn’t miss Murdoc, she did miss him a lot. You knew she looked up to him as one of her dad’s, just like she did to you and Russel. Maybe you were more of a brother to her?

Russel missed him too but stubbornly believes that Murdoc is truly guilty of smuggling narcotics. You tried telling him otherwise, but after being persuaded into joining a world-famous band by kidnapping, Russel put his foot down. You gave up miserably. 

A day after showing your bandmates Soukeye, Ace tried to cheer you up with old stories of when he and the bassist used to hang out back in their teenage years. Murdoc fit in the Gangreen Gang for obvious reasons but he left before they met the Powerpuff Girls. You smiled throughout his rambling, terribly faking your happiness, trying to portray appreciation though what could you appreciate really? Ace did manage to get a laugh or two out of you when he mentioned Murdoc’s shameless shenanigans.

It gave you a short-lived sense of familiarity, nostalgia, you think it’s called. Or maybe you’re mixing it up with aesthetic? 

Months have passed since the bassist’s incarceration. Now you were on tour far away from Wormwood Scrubs so you were unable to visit him.

Apparently Murdoc had been heard from according to a fan who spoke out urgently and took action by posting #freemurdoc posters around his hometown. You were surprised that the story Murdoc told you matched what the fan claimed. You hadn’t told the public about the bassist’s situation so no one would know that information other than you and your bandmates.

You were happy that the fan’s claims started an uprise for most Gorillaz fans who also participated in the #freemurdoc campaign.

And impressed that Murdoc could figure out a way to hack the prison’s PA system. That sodding genius. 

Though your mood was lifted by that, it was suffocating in the tour buses and private jets without Murdoc next to you like he always was. 

He usually smoked a fag or drank from his flask with an arm around your shoulders, occasionally pressing a kiss or nuzzling his broken nose to your cheek affectionately. You’d usually just sleep in his arms. 

Now you just sat awake, alone, distant and contemplating everything going on in the world at the moment, smoking joint after joint, even jamming the roaches in your small pipe. Overthinking everything going on at this moment of 2018 was part of why you were naming the developing album The Now Now. Ace failed to hide his scoff (he apologized, pressured by Noodle’s hard-stare) and Russel raised an eyebrow, but you were grateful that Noodle understood your reasoning.

The Humility music video was fun to record, but you were (and still are) self-conscious that the smile on your face and the whiteness of your eyes raised too much concern for the fans. Most were ecstatic that you were so happy and carefree, other’s were skeptical and theorizing that you’re possessed, and some were obsessed with the green shorts you chose to wear. 

A few fans were angered that Ace was in Murdoc's place but the unsettlement quickly cooled off after a few weeks.

It didn’t take long for you to finish writing the album after that. The release date had been set for June 29th, after teasing your fans for the last few months. The Now Now had songs you’d written with Murdoc on it too, like Idaho. Recording Hollywood with Snoop Dogg was a pretty fun day. There were eleven songs on the album, almost as if it’s a side-dish to Humanz.

You were happy with the outcome. So was Ace, Noodle and Russel.

Now you were waiting for the day to roll around, in the Spirit House, anxious for Gorillaz’s fans’ reactions to the sound of it all. It was just a few days away…

But an urgent letter from Wormwood Scrubs stating that Murdoc “...who has, as of late, portrayed a strange obsession with “2-D”.” made you feel pretty guilty. The Psychiatric Ward was dense enough to think that you were a two-dimensional object. 

You realized how crazy Murdoc must have been going in that prison without getting a visit from you at all for the past two or three months, and you were thinking of flying out to the prison’s country to pay him a well-needed visit. You’d stay at a hotel in the country for a week and see him everyday as an apology for the unintentional neglect, even play the new songs you’d created for him. He loves music, but he loves your voice even more. 

But you forced yourself to wait a few days…

Murdoc was being allowed a phone call because the prison thinks he is a nutcase and insists that “...imperative corrective action be taken.”

The only imperative corrective action to be taken is setting his bassist free.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading! Leave kudos and a constructive or nice comment if you want the next chapter! 
> 
> BEFORE YOU GO:
> 
> For my final art project, I made a Gorillaz-themed linocut print. I have the lino and when I buy the ink for printing, I plan to sell prints online to fans. I'm thinking each print will be around $2 or $3 and shipping will be kept really low, like maybe a $1 or something, internationally. 
> 
> The linocut design is on my Instagram (@murdongs_stiffy) and I'll be posting a picture of the outcome after this chapter. If you're interested, I plan to have them selling by mid-July. If they sell okay, I'll make more designs, maybe even a Free Murdoc linocut print.

**Author's Note:**

> Please comment constructively or just share your thoughts so far!  
> Always motivates me to write more! :)


End file.
